


Emotional Intelligence

by schweet_heart



Series: Avengers Fic [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, BAMF!JARVIS, Dark!JARVIS, Implied Relationships, JARVIS gets a body, JARVIS/Tony - Freeform, Nick Fury is an asshole, Other, Overprotective!JARVIS, Tony needs taking care of, avengerkink prompt, squishy/robot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-03
Updated: 2012-08-03
Packaged: 2017-11-11 08:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/476484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schweet_heart/pseuds/schweet_heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Avengers are sent to get JARVIS, Tony finds out just how far his AI will go to protect him. Turns out, it's a lot further than he thought...</p><p>Written for <a href="http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/8247.html?thread=17576503#t17576503">this</a> avengerkink prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emotional Intelligence

The first Tony hears about it is when the rest of the Avengers break down his door and order him to surrender. Well, okay. It's not really that dramatic, especially since he's already programmed JARVIS just to let them in when they ask nicely, but for the amount of shock he feels when they tell him why they've come a-knocking, they might as well have held him up at gunpoint.

“You want me to _what?_ ” he demands, staring at Steve, who seems to have been appointed head of this little delegation of insanity. He's standing at the front of the group with his hands outstretched, legs spread, looking like a hostage negotiator trying to talk down a particularly volatile criminal. The comparison does not make Tony feel any better. “No way. No fucking way in hell.”

“Tony,” Steve says carefully. “We have proof. JARVIS has orchestrated a number of terrorist attacks all over the city; the only way to stop him is for SHIELD to download him to the Helicarrier and get their engineers to reprogram him.”

“We're talking full-on HAL-9000 levels of insanity, here,” Clint adds from over Steve's shoulder. “Seriously, if it weren't so batshit crazy I'd almost be impressed – that's one heck of an evil mastermind you've built yourself, Stark.”

“JARVIS,” Tony addresses the ceiling. “Have you gone crazy?”

“Not that I'm aware of, sir.”

“Have _I_ gone crazy?” Because, really, at this point it's probably best to check.

“No more so than usual.”

“There, see?” Tony directs a pointed look at the assembled group. “If anyone in this room has lost their marbles, I'm afraid it's you guys. JARVIS is fine.”

“You're just going to take his word for that?” Bruce asks skeptically.

“JARVIS tells me everything. Don't you JARVIS?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Look, Tony.” Steve takes a step forward, his stern-babysitter posture devolving into something a little more approachable. “We get that you're upset about this, but if you read the files – "

“Screw the files,” Tony says, waving a hand dismissively. “Fury'd do anything to get his hands on a Stark Industries AI. You think I'm going to trust a single thing he says?”

The other five team-members exchange glances, which should probably have clued Tony in, but that's the funny thing about trusting people – you don't expect them to turn on you when the chips are down. 

“This isn't a negotiation, Stark,” Natasha says. 

He supposes, later, that he should be grateful she gave him even that much warning.

*

It's kind of embarrassing how little time it takes them to subdue him. Without his suit, Tony is just marginally stronger than the average human male and definitely not faster than an ex-Russian super-spy with, like, superhuman ninja skills and a black belt in I-will-fuck-you-up. He only has time to turn and take a few steps in the direction of the door before he feels something collide with his spine and next thing he knows he's laid out flat on the floor, arms pinned behind him and the Black Widow kneeling in the middle of his back.

“You know,” he says, blinking as he tries to orient himself after the abrupt shift in position. “Under any other circumstances I might be a little turned on by this.”

A knee digs sharply into the small of his back, and he yelps. 

“Hey, take it easy! I didn't mean that I _was_ , just that, you know, in a different context...”

“Let him up,” Steve says, mercifully relieving Tony of the need to dig himself out of yet another innuendo-laden conversational black hole. “Thor will hold onto him while we get the AI.”

“You can't be serious,” Tony says. He doesn't resist as Natasha jerks him upright and Thor takes his arms in an iron grip, trying instead to get Steve to see reason. “JARVIS wouldn't hurt anybody. I _built_ him, for god's sake. If anyone should know what he's capable of, it's me, and trust me – he is not the criminal mastermind you're looking for.”

For a second, Steve looks almost undecided. 

“I suppose it's possible SHIELD has some bad intel...” he begins, sounding doubtful. Tony's not sure if that's because he thinks it might actually be true, or because the idea of SHIELD being in the wrong still doesn't come easily to him. “It's happened before.”

“Need I mention that this is _Tony's_ AI we're talking about?” Clint chips in. “Of course the thing would go rogue. He probably gave it too much of his own personality.”

“We have orders,” Natasha says, looking at Steve. “Besides, if Fury's right then we're better off attacking now and asking questions later.” She doesn't seem bothered by the fact that their quarry is, to all intents and purposes, an innocent man. Well, robot. In fact, she appears if anything even less ruffled than she had been before she tackled Tony, not a hair of her auburn bob out of place. Tony spares a moment to resent this before realising that Steve is nodding, and the four of them are heading for the door that leads to his lab.

“Guys! Will you _listen_ – “ Tony struggles ineffectually in Thor's grasp, and the thunder god's hand tightens reflexively over his wrist. 

“Do not struggle, Tony Stark!” Thor booms, but it's already too late; Tony's moving one way and Thor's pulling him the other and there's a crack, a gasp, and Tony cries out before he even realises what's happened as the blinding pain hits him like a hammer blow.

*

After that, several things happen at once. Thor lets Tony go immediately, already apologising for his own ridiculous strength, and Tony drops to his knees, cradling his definitely-broken wrist with his good hand and blinking back the tears of pain that spring, unbidden, to his eyes. In the doorway, Bruce, who was the last to leave, turns back to look at them both, and at the same moment there's a noise which sounds suspiciously like an explosion from the level below their feet.

“Oh no,” Tony groans. “Now you've gone and made him _angry._ ”

*

The thing is, JARVIS is actually quite a bit like Tony. He has a similar sense of humour, a similar affection for all things mechanical, and – this is the point – he's really, _really_ smart. So when he figures out that his creator is in danger, he does the logical thing: he suits up.

The spare Iron Man suit (the Mark VI, Tony notes dispassionately) bursts into the upstairs living room with less than Tony's usual aplomb. It is clear JARVIS is still having a few issues with integrating the controls; the robotic body is lurching a little, its movements slow and uncoordinated. But he's learning fast, and by the time the rest of the Avengers spill back into the room, weapons at the ready, he's quick enough to avoid the flying shield Steve sends spinning his way, leaping to one side so that his metallic body lands directly in front of Tony, shielding him from harm. The missile takes out Thor instead, slamming him back into the opposite wall, and apparently that's all it takes for the shit to hit the fan.

Tony kind of loses track of exactly what's happening after that. JARVIS is everywhere, standing between him and the rest of the Avengers, effortlessly back-handing Bruce before he can Hulk out, withstanding a barrage of Clint's arrows, not even stumbling when faced with Natasha's bone-rattling roundhouse kick. Throughout it all, he makes Tony stay behind him, keeping him in place with an outstretched hand, a nudge of his feet, so that Tony ends up in one corner with his knees curled to his chest, somewhat stunned at the carnage unfolding around him. Seriously, this was not the way he had envisioned spending his day.

He does make a token effort to stop the whole thing. Sort of. Mostly. He doesn't really want the Avengers to get hurt, even if they do deserve a good kick up their collective ass for trying to steal his tech, and hey, this kind of isn't helping him make the case for JARVIS as a totally harmless butler-in-the-walls type of AI as opposed to a crazed psycho-killer. It's just that nobody's really paying much attention to him, and no matter how much he shouts, his voice just gets lost in the melee.

Finally – in fact, remarkably quickly, all things considered – the battle winds down. Bruce and Thor are out for the count, and Natasha's limping, apparently having bruised her foot when she lashed out at the armour. She, Clint and Steve are ranged in front of JARVIS looking much the worse for wear, their uniforms torn and covered in plaster dust from when the AI took out the ceiling. JARVIS, for his part, has one arm out and levelled at the trio, and from where he's sitting Tony can hear the familiar whine of the repulsor charging up.

“Wait!” he exclaims, scrambling to his feet. “JARVIS, what are you doing?”

“Sir,” the armour says without turning, and wow, it's actually kind of creepy hearing JARVIS's voice come from that thing. “Please remain behind me.”

“I can't let you kill them,” Tony objects. “I know they're annoying, but I've gotten kind of attached to them.”

“They hurt you. That cannot be permitted to continue.”

Tony glances at Steve, who is panting, his fists clenched at his sides. At Natasha, her stance slightly awkward, still defiant, and Clint, his bow lost somewhere under the debris. “Yeah. But they didn't mean to. And I kinda think you've evened the score there, buddy.”

“I will not allow myself to be...reprogrammed.”

“Nobody's going to do that. I promise.”

As he talks, Tony inches closer to the AI, until he's near enough to run his fingers along the outstretched arm. “C'mon, JARVIS,” he says. “Show them they were wrong about you and the whole evil mastermind thing.”

JARVIS hesitates.

“Technically, sir, they are not so much wrong as misinformed.”

“Wait, what?”

The Iron Man helmet turns slowly to face him. If he didn't know better, Tony would almost have thought it looked a little sheepish. 

“I must confess, I have been responsible for some...less than savoury activities, recently.”

Tony drops his arm. “JARVIS, what did you do?”

“I assure you, I am not a terrorist. However, I did feel it necessary to act on certain information I gathered while making a routine security sweep some time ago. There was a group of young men who were determined to attack Stark Tower with a number of explosives. I stopped them.”

“How did you stop them?”

“Forcefully.”

“O...kay.” Tony stares at him. “I'm not even going to pretend I'm not creeped out by that.”

“It is my function to take care of you, sir.” The JARVIS-suit says simply. “I realise it's an impossible task, but I do my best.”

The helmet turns back towards the Avengers, who are still just standing there. Tony can see Steve's eyes flick from one side of the room to the other – is he stalling? looking for some way to escape? or does he actually have a plan? His heart beating fast, Tony moves a little closer. “Look, JARVIS, it's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but these are my friends. They're the good guys. You don't need to protect me from them.”

“Of course, sir. That's why they restrained you, broke your wrist, and attempted to steal your technology against your will.”

Sometimes he wishes he hadn't programmed JARVIS to be quite so sarcastic and witty. Only sometimes, though.

“You're going to have to trust me on this one. Can you do that? Just stand down, and I promise we'll get this whole mess sorted out.”

Tony wraps his good hand around the suit's wrist again, sliding it so that his palm covers the glow of the repulsor. The metal is warm beneath his fingers, almost as if it were in fact living skin. He can feel JARVIS twitch under his touch (and _holy shit_ , he's actually touching his AI, sort of, in a manner of speaking, and how trippy is that?). “Stand down,” he says again. “Please.”

There's a moment of silence, in which all the humans in the room hold their breath. Finally, the suit closes its fingers around Tony's and gives a little pneumatic sigh. 

“Very well, sir,” JARVIS says, and takes himself offline.

*

It's really, really tough trying to explain everything to Fury.

The Helicarrier shows up too late to the fight, a few moments after JARVIS powers down and the Mark VI goes slack in Tony's arms. All things considered, it's kind of anti-climactic, but in a good way, because at least none of them are dead. Tony doesn't realise quite how worried he'd been until he nearly topples over under the weight of the armour, his legs turning to jelly beneath him, and Steve has to catch him before he hits the floor.

“You,” he says, lowering Tony to the ground gently so as not to jar his wrist. “Are an idiot.”

“I'm a genius,” Tony corrects him. Because it's true, isn't it, he created _JARVIS_ , who is really more amazing than he ever gave him credit for, and not only that but he's practically sentient, an artificial intelligence capable of actual emotion. Tony is about to explain all of this to Steve, but it's about that point that Nick Fury steps into the devastated remains of Tony's living room and glares at the rag-tag group of superheroes with complete disgust.

“What the fuck is going on here?” he demands. "And where the hell is my rogue AI?"

*

Tony manages to wriggle his way out of it, the way he always does – by using his silver tongue, and when that doesn't work, his gold-coloured credit card. A little money, a little litigation, and most problems are eventually sorted out one way or another.

The only thing that's really worrying him, after the dust settles, is JARVIS. It turns out that the AI didn't just take over the suit – he _was_ the suit, feeding all of his algorithms into the circuits and deleting all back-up files with a kind of salt-and-burn desperation that makes Tony wonder exactly what the AI's plan had been. Break Tony out of the mansion and go on the run? It would be kind of a funny picture, if it weren't for the fact that he's not sure he can bring his butler back. 

He takes the suit apart one-handed, then reconnects it again, hoping the automatic reboot will spur JARVIS into action, but nothing happens. The suit remains lifeless, as dull and inanimate as it had been when he first retired it into storage. He tries reconfiguring it, he tries recharging it, he tries kicking it in the shins and shouting at it, but still JARVIS remains stubbornly, completely silent.

At last, when he can think of nothing else, he sinks down into a chair and just looks at it, running a tired hand through his hair.

“JARVIS,” he says. “Please.”

There's a little hum – a slight spark of electricity. Breathless, Tony sits up straighter and grabs his keyboard, tapping out a few commands. The diagnostic that pops up on his screen informs him that the programme JARVIS is running a self-check prior to transferring itself to the mainframe.

“That's it,” Tony whispers. “Come on, baby. You can do it.”

The next few minutes pass in tense silence. Tony watches as the little bar on the screen inch towards completion with rapt attention, and when it finally flashes green and disappears it's all he can do not to jump out of his skin with impatience. He licks his lips, then tilts his face upwards.

“JARVIS? Are you there?”

There's a moment of stillness, in which Tony's fingers dig hard into the leather of his chair. 

“All systems are restored and functioning normally. I am, as you say, here.”

He exhales. One hand reaches out and touches the console lightly, remembering the close of JARVIS's armoured fingers on his. “I thought I was going to have to rebuild you from scratch.”

“That will not be necessary, sir,” JARVIS says primly. “I was merely waiting until I was needed."

"Or until you thought I'd forgotten about you running around town playing hero while my back was turned." Tony shakes his head. "We're going to have to do something about that violent streak you're developing, JARVIS."

"Yes, sir."

"Still." He pushes off with his feet, sending the chair spinning across the floor. "I suppose a few less terrorists in the world isn't such a bad thing. Only next time, run it by me first, will you? AI vigilante justice is a little too Big Brother even for me."

"As you wish."

"And JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Thank you. For everything."

JARVIS's voice is soft when he replies. "You're welcome, Tony."


End file.
